ittybittySmithy

4 years ago today.....

2012-02-12T18:42:00.000-06:00

4 years ago today.....I found out I was pregnant. You can read about it all again HERE. But, I vividly remember freaking out over my lunch break, carrying the test in a ziploc bag to work so I could "make sure it was still positive" - yes, oh yes, I did. Just in case, y'all. You know. Maybe it was wrong and then it would turn negative or something. Well, it didn't. And I had to hide it from Mike for two days. I was so cranky those two days too - poor hubby! But then I broke the news on Valentine's Day and our life has never been the same.

Fast forward four years....and we have a spunky, energetic, healthy, lively, compassionate, empathetic, go-getter little gal' named Bella Grace Smith. My my, how four years certainly changes things. We had no idea what we were doing or what we were getting into or how we would learn to be parents. But, this little thing came into our life that taught us what to do and what to get into and how to be parents.

As I write this you and your daddy are singing songs before you go to bed - you're singing "Grace Grace, God's Grace", "Jesus loves me", "Twinkle, Twinkle", and "Blessed Be". You are also singing "Hallelujah" which was the very first song your daddy taught you. We definitely agree with the theme of that song - praising God for what we have in you! Sweet Bella, you were loved four years ago (yes, even when yo' mama was freaking out a little bit) and you certainly still are!

A Grandparent's Poem

2012-01-27T16:30:00.000-06:00

Grandparents are like honeybees;
They are the very sweetest.
They give you hugs and kisses,

And their stories are the neatest.

The honey they produce
Is more valuable than gold,

For this honey is the lessons
That we lovingly are told.

Grandparents want the best for us
And say we can achieve

Any goal that we have set,
If only we believe.

They help us spread our wings
So when we leave our honeycomb ,
We'll make the right decisions
Though we be away from home.

Yes, grandpas are like silver,

And grandmas are a gem,

But better than one hundred diamonds
Are the things I learn from them. - By Alyssa Marie Bentham

Baby rolls

2012-01-26T16:30:00.000-06:00

I'm not sure why but I LOVE these pictures. I know one day he'll grow out of these baby rolls. I'm not ready for that day when he starts walking and then running and then gets skinny. I LOVE baby rolls - who doesn't! They are so sweet and squishy and babyish! I might be a little obsessed with them. But look at him y'all! You know you are too.

Hope you enjoyed!

JT's first bite of food - aka - this did not go well!

2012-01-25T08:00:00.000-06:00

Muscle Man hasn't had any type of food other than milk - so we thought it might be time to try to introduce some other food to him. Remember when we did that with Bella? You can go here to check it out.

Anyways, back to Mr. Picky! He had no idea what was coming. I was ready with the camera while daddy fed him a little bite of applesauce.

Uh, not so sure about this.

And, he started gagging.

Ok, daddy's making funny noises and faces. Maybe he'll like it now?

More funny faces to try to win him over...

NOPE! No win!

"Daddy's trying to show me how to open my mouth. I will NOT do that!"

Yuck!

After applesauce, bananas, and rice cereal we gave up. This is how JT ended the night. He would NOT open his mouth. Needless to say, Mike and I were rolling with laughter watching his expressions. Oh well, we'll try again later.

JT update - 9 months

2012-01-24T15:30:00.000-06:00

Little man is just growing! He is still as cute as can be - and is getting a little attitude. Last week was his "firsts" tantrum when Mike wouldn't let him get to something he shouldn't have. uh oh!

But most of the time he is very happy. Seriously, happy! If Mike is holding him, JT will make eye contact with me until I look at him. And then just smile. Adorable!

He now has 6 teeth. 4 on top and 2 on bottom. Hence, his tongue is out all the time - unless he has something in his mouth - which seems like all the time too.

Little guy has been army crawling for a while but is finally crawling with his knees and hands. He doesn't do it much though because he is so quick just scooting!

He had his first bite of anything other than milk the other day and did.not.like.it! I have a post coming up later this week dedicated to that. It did not go well at all!

This was his sister's toy that he now gets to play with. Nostalgia!

Bella was very serious even as a baby and could focus on one toy for a long time. He can do that too but most of the time he would rather smile.

See, smiling...

And, again.

Here's our GAP model trying to decide if he wants to look at the book or chew on it.

Look at those teeth. They HURT when he bites!

Bella and I had a tea party the other day and he came and knocked it all over. After an initial "MOMMM!!!" from Bella, she was ok and let him play.

He is now fully in 18-24 month clothing-mostly 24.

His hair is coming in and I still think it's red. I love to make it stick up with baby lotion right after his bath - poor little guy! hehe!

JT, you are such a joy to us!

Bella update - 3 years and a quarter

2012-01-23T08:00:00.000-06:00

Our little gal is just growing up! She continues to amaze us with how stinkin' smart she is - and how witty she is - and tenacious - and spirited - and tenacious...

You get the picture. She is so full of personality right now and I have a feeling that will just continue to increase as she gets older.

She still loves pink and purple. She says those are her "favorites". Speaking of "favorites", she likes to let us know what those are lately. Her favorite princess is Cinderella, her favorite thing to eat is peanut butter/jelly "samwich", her favorite cartoon is Dinosaur Train, and last but certainly not least she called me her favorite yesterday AND today. Score!!! That's a big deal because she's always been a huge Daddy's gal.

She still enjoys singing and will get a rag to sing while she cleans. It's not just any singing though. She pretends like she's singing opera or something - she's seen Snow White so she's singing like her - vibrato and all!

She likes school again. We went through a little rough patch where she did not like school at all. She moved up in her class so it was the transition that got her upset. But now she knows her teacher and classmates and is A-ok with going again. Phew, that makes me happy.

She knows all of her letters - capitalized and smaller case. She knows most of the sounds they make. And, she knows a little arithmetic. She can count 2+4 or 2+3 or 3+5.

She knows what a gigantosauras and a microrapter are.

She can make her "Brudder" smile more than anyone. She likes to say "tickle tickle" to him and watch him crack up laughing.

This is right before we went to see "Beauty and the Beast" in 3D. I may or may not have gotten all choked up a couple of times during the movie. It was my favorite growing up so it was special to be able to take her. She did so great too and say in my lap the whole time. Again, score!

Here we are having a tea party in the living room. We made strawberry cake over and over and over...i'm glad it wasn't real though. We would have consumed way too much sugar that day. Notice her outfit? That's what she wants every.single.day - pink dress, glass slippers, crown, jewelry. And then she'll dance.

She'll also ask for things by saying, "Mommy, wanna dance to me?", "Mommy, wanna play to me?", "Mommy, wanna hold my hand?" Well of course I want to hold you hand! Housework and/or homework can wait if i'm being asked by a certain 3 year old to hold her hand and dance. We have lots of family dance parties lately. Or today we played "Follow the leader" while we sang the song from Peter Pan. She loved it and told her Daddy a couple of times, "this is fun!". Awww, the joy of childhood.

Progression of crawling/pulling up

2012-01-22T17:00:00.000-06:00

Our little man has got this scooting-crawling-army-crawl-scooting thing down. He also loves to go to the fireplace.

Army crawl - scoot - army crawl - scoot

Scoot - reach - scoot - reach

Pull up - grunt like a man - pull up some more

Stand - grunt - stand

Pat the fireplace - look at the fire - exhale or laugh or maybe grunt - or toot

Wonder if mom will let you keep going...

Nope - busted!

And, this concludes this rendition of "Progression of crawling/pulling up".

Brudder sister love

2012-01-22T08:00:00.000-06:00

Blog world...meet two adorable kiddos! Here's how most of our days go....

They love eachother...

Brother pulls sister's hair...

"MOOMMM...BRUDDEERRRR"

Oh, sister got away. We're all better now.

They love eachother.

Yep, adorable.

Tickle tickle brudder.

And, want to see it again?
Here they are watching Saturday morning cartoons.
They love eachother...

Brother again tries to pull Sister's hair...
"MOOOMMM....BRUUUDDDEEERRR"

And, he let's go or I pull her hair out of his hand.
And, we're all better.

They love eachother.

Yep, nuttin' but lurvv'!

Not supposed to be here

2012-01-21T08:00:00.000-06:00

Uh oh...

It looks like someone isn't supposed to be here.

But what does a mommy do when her little one is trying to crawl through the kitchen stools...

and she knows he'll get stuck and start crying?

Grabs the camera - and then rescues him!

Something Happened

2012-01-20T14:26:00.001-06:00

Dear sweet Bella,
You have made me a mother. You have me love being a mother. You have made me believe I can be a mother.

You see, sweet gal, I didn't have dreams of being a mother. I actually thought I would go to medical school, get a PhD, have a career and then get married at 30. Then, I met a little something called 'yo daddy' at college and life changed. And, I am SO glad it did. I didn't go to medical school. I got married at 22 (just FYI - you can't date until you're 30...now, that we've gotten that out of the way I can continue writing...). And, I enrolled in the PhD program at 30. So, things didn't go quite as I have planned. Again, I am SO glad they didn't.

Another little something that happened is you came along. After the initial jumping-up-and-down-in-sheer-excitement occurred when we found out you were coming in 9 short months, I called Neena numerous times with conversations that started like this:

"I don't know what it takes to be a mother."

"I didn't even like babysitting growing up. Maybe i'm not going to be good at this motherhood-thing?"

"I haven't even changed a diaper yet."

"I don't feel like I have those maternal-instincts-like-playing-with-dolls-or-barbies."

Thankfully, your Neena was gracious and encouraging and loving to me. She said I would be ok.

And, sweet thing, a little something has happened. You came. And I became a mother.

You have taught me to love.

You have taught me what it means to be "maternal". What it means to have an immense amount of love for something so small. What it means to look at you and be completely overwhelmed with thoughts of "how did I get so stinkin' blessed".

Now, I call Neena and say something like this:
"I'm so thrilled that I love being a mother."

"I love being a mother."

Or I just gush about everything you're doing - including the little things like what you laugh at, how you look when you turn your hear in the sunlight, and how proud I was that you went potty.

So, you see. Something happened about 3 years ago. It didn't happened when I found out I was pregnant with you. It didn't necessarily happen when you came into the world. But it did happen the more I get to know you. It happened the more your sweet and tenacious personality comes out. It happened with I first felt you wrap you arm around my arm. It happened when you pull my face to yours to whisper "I love you". It happened when you laugh hysterically at something random I did (that probably wasn't even funny - you're good for my self-esteem!)

Sweet girl, something happened to make me a mother and make me love being a mother.

You happened.

And, I am forever thankful.

Love,
Your mommy

Final Christmas post

2012-01-20T13:31:00.002-06:00

And, here's the last of the Christmas pictures. Sorry, y'all. It's called the-beginning-of-the-semester! This blog post will be pretty boring. But I wanted to make sure I got these pictures in for their keepsake books.

This is sweet Bella on Christmas Eve morning.

Bella was looking for Santa Claus!

This is what she got from Santa on Christmas morning. A Cinderalla doll and a big pink chair from Neena and Granddad.

We made sugar cookies...again. But this time some of them were for Santa. And the rest were for us. ha!

She didn't know what to think about Santa eating her cookies...poor gal!

Merry Christmas - ahem, January 20, 2012!

Legacy of a Granddad

2012-01-08T15:14:00.000-06:00

It is one of my greatest joys to watch my dad play with my daughter like he did with me. He's always been the "science guy" or "Mr. Rogers" to my sister and I - he's a teacher - so we have great memories of Shel Silverstein poems (I can still recite most of them) or learning about rainbows or the different types of clouds. He's been our greatest advocate for education and i'm thankful he's passing that love of learning to my kiddos.

One night before bedtime, he did a "trick" with Bella. And she loved it! I have it on video so i'll have to post that too. She thought it was so funny that Granddad could make the ball float in the air with a hair dryer. Look at their faces!

My dad has also give me a love for nature and the outdoors. He wants to be outdoors alot. And, so do I. We were glad to have great days of beautiful weather while they were here.

Bella wanted to be with her Granddad most of the time. This is on their daily walk to get the mail.

Daddeo, it's the small things that make me say thank you. Thank you for the legacy you gave to Allison and I and are now giving to Bella and JT.

Family pictures

2012-01-08T07:00:00.000-06:00

My mom takes great pictures. Y'all know that if you've been reading this blog for any time at all. Allison and Brad came for a few days so we used that opportunity to snatch a couple of family pictures. These aren't all of them but it's a sneak peak of some of them.

Look at that brotha'-sista' love!

Thanks mom for the great pictures!

Christmas with Mrs. Cathy

2012-01-07T15:13:00.000-06:00

When family meets, you know you're family. And my mom commented how much she enjoyed Cathy. Cathy commented the same about my parents. So yes, I think we're officially family.

We all went over to Cathy's house one evening - and we were met with food and presents! Sweet Cathy even had envelopes for us on her tree - like she does for her kiddos. So, again, we are so thankful for her being "family" to us. She definitely is that!

Bella and JT received books and toys and ornaments!

I love this picture! I told Mike that I really missed being at her house. I love our new house but there are some special times while we lived with her. Cathy, we are still grateful for you opening your house to us!

And, i'll leave you with an adorable series of pictures of Cathy and her Muscle Man.

Love this! Doesn't it look like he's telling her a story?

Duke Gardens

2012-01-07T08:00:00.000-06:00

Christmas with the Hogue's started on December 20th and went through the 30th. woohoo! We sure did enjoy having my parents here. I think I have five or six posts coming up complete with pictures from that trip so get ready! One night while they were here, we had a beautiful evening! It was warmer than normal so I had the window above the kitchen sink open. While washing dishes and listening to our waterfall-fountain-thing, Bella and her daddy went outside to play with bubbles. Here's the little cutie with her daddy playing. Priceless!

We also went to Duke Gardens one afternoon to enjoy the beauty of nature. And it did not disappoint. Mike has been trying to get me to go to the gardens all last semester - but I let school get in the way. Not anymore! It is so pretty!

Our family of four walking - I love these moments captured my my mom.

This was right before we went to go see the ducks. I am going to carry her like this for as long as I can. Sweet Bella, quit growing!

Little man was quite content to be bundled up and pushed around all over the place.

Mom and I laughed at this picture. This looks like an engagement picture...until you notice a little something behind Mike. Yep, that's a kid. That's our kid. Oh how times have changed. Now it's an 'engagement-like' picture complete with a kiddo. And a toddler that is running around chasing her Granddad.

Y'all know i'm a sucker for these pictures with my dad. Yep, gets me every time.

Bella wanted to run. So we ran. And ran. And ran. And ran some more.

Good night everyone!

When the calling is hard

2012-01-06T09:18:00.001-06:00

It's winter time here. Christmas has come and gone. The festivities and family and presents and multitudes of cookies and twinkling lights are gone. Now, it's just me and the quiet. And, i've been sad. And, i've been doubting. The whirlwind of the last few months has come and gone. Moving, starting school, moving into a new house, finding a new rhythum with the kids, new jobs...things are settling down. But my soul is having a hard time settling. It's having a hard time being steadfast.

I miss my family. I miss Granny Ruth and Pop. I miss the ability to drive to see my sister. I miss the familiarity of my job. Don't get my wrong. We have been beyond blessed with our church family here and I'm incredibly thankful for who they are and who they have been to us. It's simply wondering what the Lord is doing. In the quiet. Without the twinkling lights. Without the family. Without the Christmas cookies. Without the noises of the world. It's a doubt of His calling on our life. It's a doubt that He is Faithful. It's a rawness that hurts when I miss our families and feel guilty about moving so far away from them. It's a doubt of His Goodness.

Yet in those times of quiet - when I finally quiet myself to be honest with the Lord, to express my raw feeling with Him, to come with nothing more than my heart - I'm reminded of the depth of His Love. I'm reminded of the steadfastness of His Love. In my doubt i've been met with reminders of His calling. His Calling on Mike's life and on my life. And how that is hard right now. But gently, quietly, calmly - i'm reminded of His Sweet Presence.

When we were praying about coming here to Durham, the Lord spoke to me through a couple of verses, specifically in Deuteronomy - "See, I have set the land before you. You are a people (a woman) holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people (a woman) for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. It was not because you were more in number that the Lord set his love on you, but it was because the Lord loves you. Know therefore that the Lord your God is faithful, He keeps his covenant and steadfast love. The Lord your God will clear away these nations before you little by little."

Little by little He spoke to us to come to Durham. Little by little - I got into school, we sold our house, Mike had a great interview with a great church...those "little by little" things were cleared away for us. This week I was reminded of those little things and reminded they were reflections of His steadfastness.

"For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land in which you will lack nothing. He goes before you. He went before you to show you by what way you should go. He knows your going."

Again, a reminder that He brought us into a good land. He has gone before us. He knows where we are going. In His steadfast love.

"He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow and loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing."

A reminder of my calling of my why i'm pursuing my degree. A sweet reminder of our role in this world. With His steadfast love. And because He is good to the world.

"But when you go over the Jordan and live in the land that the Lord God is giving you and when he gives you rest, then to the place that the Lord your God will choose to make his name dwell there, there you shall bring your offerings and sacrifices. And you shall rejoice with all your family."

When you go and LIVE...it takes time to live in a place. Living does not happen automatically. This was a reminder to simply live - to simply live in the moment in the land "across the Jordan". He promised rejoicing in the land with your family - after living. Again, a gently reminder He is steadfast. And He is good.

"Take care to not offer your sacrifices in your choosing. But at the place that the Lord will choose.

Love the Lord, walk in His ways, hold fast to Him."

Your choosing, Lord. This is the place where you chose. This is the place where we present our offerings and sacrifices. This is the place where we present our first fruits. This is where we are to live and to rejoice. In your steadfast love you have reminded me of your calling, your presence, and your steadfastness. And I am so thankful for it.

Notice that the more I reminded myself of His calling to us, I added some terms to the paragraphs about the verses. I started out in doubt. Then I was reminded of His Steadfastness. Then, slowly and gently I was reminded of His Goodness. Reminded that He truly is Good.

Sometimes the Lord speaks in mighty ways and earthquakes and rushing waters. Sometimes we can rejoice with loud shouts of Hallelujah and thanksgivings. Sometimes we can remember the Lord's promises and believe them. Other times He speaks in the quiet of a living room. Without twinkling lights. Or people. Or cookies.He speaks through our doubts and tears. He speaks to remind us of His calling. His rejoicing. His steadfast love. His goodness. Gently, calmly, quietly.

Sometimes, it's when we hold fast to Him that we are reminded of who has been holding us all along.

Bella's list of "firsts"

2012-01-03T16:35:00.000-06:00

December was a month of "Firsts" for Bella. The first "Firsts" to document is her school Christmas party. I was already out of school so I was able to attend! I packed JT up and headed out the door with my camera. But before I got there, I called my mom. The conversation went a little something like this. "Mom, I'm headed to Bella's first school party" SQUEAL.... (on both sides of the phone) "That's fun honey. I remember that". The rest of the conversation was us laughing together and then we nearly started crying. Actually, I think my mom did but I didn't want to walk in her school with mascara running down my face. ha!

The next on the list of "Firsts" is her first time to be in a church play. Granted, she didn't have a speaking part or an acting part. And, all she had to do was sit there and ice cookies. But, we were so proud. I think I turned to Mike and told him, "She is so cute and I am so proud of her." And, she didn't do a thing! I was that mom!

The last of the list of "Firsts" is her first time to be a wolverine princess. You see, we hosted our Sunday School Christmas party at our house. And, it looked a little something like this. This picture is even without the kiddos.

JT hung out for a while but fell asleep in a milk coma. Don't we all feel like that after the holidays?

Here's our wolverine princess. She received a princess crown, shoes, earrings, wand, and all the accessories. She put them all on for the evening. But notice the other kiddos? They are boys. And, they brought there masks. And, they ran around like boys. And, my little gal followed suit (I was very proud of this fact! She can hang with the boys!). Without losing a beat or any of her princess accessories, our little princess put on the wolverine masks.

And, then they all made a funny face to document the fun night!

The end. Love, the mommy of a wolverine princess.

HeeHaw!

2012-01-03T04:00:00.000-06:00

Bella got a horse for Christmas from Grammy and PawPaw and has LOVED playing on it....so has her daddy!

Well, I guess they both like it!

If this picture had words you'd hear Bella saying "HeeHaw!" - and her daddy too!

I LOVED these pictures so I had to dedicate a post entirely to them!

Pics from Momma S

2012-01-02T20:48:00.000-06:00

Here are some pictures from Momma S! Enjoy!

Aunt Christie got Bella a mixer, which she promptly opened in the kitchen.

This is when Bella first saw her horse after waking up in the morning!

Sweet Jonathan Thomas.

We're learning to play ball early.

Bella wanted to act silly...

but I got one "serious" face...

PawPaw got an in-between-funny-serious face...

And I jumped in with a silly face.

Sweet Mrs. Cathy helping my kiddos at the Santa Breakfast.

This is titled "I am in denial of what is going on - Love, Mommy"

Legacy of Grandparents

2012-01-02T16:00:00.000-06:00

Few can bring the warmth

We can find in their embrace,

And little more is needed to bring love.

Than the smile on their face.

They've a supply of precious stories,

Yet they've time to wipe a tear,

Or give us reasons to make us laugh,

They grow more precious through the years.

I believe that God sent us Grandparents

As our legacy from above,

To share the moments of our life,

As extra measures of His love.

We love you, Grammy and PawPaw!

Bella's experience with Santa and a breakfast with Santa at our church

2012-01-02T04:24:00.000-06:00

Well, I made the title of this blog long! We haven't taken pictures with Santa Claus yet - I don't think Santa uses hand sanitizer at the malls so i've opted not to do these the last few years. Sorry, y'all. I'm an epidemiologist. But this year Santa made an appearance at our church. And the crowd was smaller. So I opted to let her see Santa. =) This first picture is titled 'So Far So Good'.

Then the little cutie did NOT want to see Santa and let go of me.

Oh well. We'll try again next year.

She enjoyed making the crafts they had. Seriously, the organizers of this event did an awesome job!

And, PawPaw was trying to get JT to walk. So was Daddy. I halted this little escapade though. Promptly. I am not ready for him to start walking.

I think he'll start regardless of my wants though. =)

Christmas with the Smith Grandparents

2012-01-01T16:20:00.001-06:00

Christmas came a little early in our house with the welcoming of the Smith Grandparents. And welcome we did! Bella was especially excited to see Grammy and PawPaw. They drove all the way from Tyler, Texas to North Carolina to see Bella and JT...and us! ha! Here's just some of the pictures from their trip.

Here's the Smith boys! Tommy Smith III, Michael Thomas Smith, and Jonathan Thomas Smith - the fifth Thomas in the family.

Sweet Bella was painting a birdhouse with Grammy.

The always awesome Grammy made JT's crib bumper, bedskirt, a pillow and a valance. We went to Joanns to get fabric that matched an owl pillow I bought. Then she went to work. I did a little bit of the sewing - but not much at all! It looks fantastic!

Bella made christmas tree cutouts with playdoh and cookie cutters with Grammy and I one morning.

I think this was the first day they were here. Bella immediately went to work with charming Grammy - love with potato chips!

Sweet JT also enjoyed loving on Grammy.

And Bella dressed up PawPaw.

Grammy and PawPaw helped us put up our Christmas tree and decorations. Half of the ornaments were Mike's from his childhood - so, it was special for me to put up the tree with Grammy.

This is what JT did while we decorated the tree. So sweet!

I love this mother-in-love!

And I love this sweet Bella and her hugs.

And then Bella climbed on Grammy's shoulders like she does to her daddy and relaxed!

JT hung out with his toys and putting everything he could find into his mouth!

He also learned how to roll a ball.

Look at that face! He was looking at PawPaw.

I'll end this post with a picture of one of our many batches of sugar cookies - I think this was number 3 out of 8 for this season! Merry Christmas and get ready for myriads of other pictures coming up!

December

2011-12-14T14:31:00.000-06:00

December is here! I love the Christmas season. Even though it's so busy and i'm doing finals - it's still so fun! Here's a random smattering of what we've been up to.

Sweet Bella made holiday cards for her grandparents and great grandparents.

Grammy made us an advent calendar last year so I was excited to put it up for this year! Bella has also enjoyed doing this every day. She calls the Christmas tree "christmas". Cute!

There's nothing like a little baby straight out of the bath and who smells like lotion -right daddeo?

Bella is a morning person like her mommy. I heard her in her room sneaking around playing. And it was 6am. So I went into say hi and she invited me to a tea party. Nothing like a tea party early in the morning. See why it's hard to study? I have other things to do!

I love these two guys.

Here's another reason why it's hard to study. Naptime would be the perfect time to read and write and study - but sometimes, I just keep on holding this sweet boy when he's sleeping. Studying can wait!

I love this picture of Bella. She looks so grown up. If it's bright when she's out the door to go to school, she has to go back to get her glasses.

Bella's daddy made her a fort the other evening. JT had to get involved too.

And here's another fort he made - much bigger! What are those books holding up the blankets? Yep, my school books. ha!

"Mommy, let's make a castle."

We had a Christmas Cantata at our church that was so good. Here's a family shot before the first performance. Bella was in her first play! Her role? Make sugar cookies.

Here's Sweet Juanita who takes care of JT at church some Sundays.

And i'll leave you with a picture of the other "stars" from the Christmas play. Enjoy some time in your PJs with sugar cookies, everyone!

Mark and Gayla

2011-12-13T10:13:00.000-06:00

If you're a reader of this blog, you know that we have very special friends in our life - Mark and Gayla. We became good friends when we lived in SC and now that we're back in the East, we're excited to be closer to them. Over Thanksgiving, they came down for a quick visit and were introduced to Mr. JT. Here's sweet Gayla with extra-sweet JT!

Bella was given a horse coloring book for her birthday from them and enjoyed working on it with them after dinner. She let everyone know that girls can only color in purple and boys get grey or brown.

Bella wanted to rock with Aunt Gayla before bedtime. I was changing her clothes while they were there and asked if she wanted to go see Mark and Gayla in the living room. She said, "No, it's Aunt Gayla." So sweet!

Aunt Gayla and Uncle Mark gave her a skirt when they got here. Here she is in her PJs, socks, and pink cowgirl hat with her skirt. That's the way to unload the dishes!

Here's JT looking at Mark. I LOVE these pictures!

Mark and Gayla, you are so special to us. We look forward to seeing y'all more!

Thanksgiving 2011

2011-12-05T09:00:00.000-06:00

We were invited to a family thanksgiving at Mrs. Cathy's house - and had such a great time! As you'll remember her resort - I mean house - is on beautiful land. And the weather was about 70 degrees that day. Fantabulous! Plus, her son deep fried a turkey. I know i'm in public health and i'm all about advocating good eating habits - but good golly - that was good turkey!

Our little munchkins liked going out there too. Bella sometimes still calls it "home", sweet girl. Here's our little cutie with her ready-to-be-a-GAP-model outfit.

Sweet Maggie playing with Bella.

See how serious she is?

We had such a great time that day. Thanks Cathy for having us as family!